


sparks on metal made to look like bleeding

by TheSpaceCoyote



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Blood and Gore, Hurt Armitage Hux, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 20:47:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17649593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpaceCoyote/pseuds/TheSpaceCoyote
Summary: An explosion at an old Imperial base leaves Hux pinned underneath the debris.Kylo tries to help, only to fail—and put the general's life in even more danger.





	sparks on metal made to look like bleeding

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly wasn't going to put this one up here because it doesn't feel up to par with the rest. But...I did it anyway. Might as well have all the bingo fics in one place, right?
> 
> Also I'll be honest when I write these hurt fics they aren't set anywhere specific in the "canon" timeline. Mostly because I just want to write self indulgent things, you know.

The blast in the hallway and resulting explosion of debris takes out an entire squadron of stormtrooper before Kylo has the chance to react.

It’s simple to shield _himself_ from the crumbling walls and raining metal of the old Imperial base, the Force deflecting and disintegrating the rubble as it tries to crush him. Kylo remains in place until the shockwave abates, before raising his head to asses the situation.

General Hux had stood between himself and the squadron but Kylo can’t see him now, not with the dust settling and entirety of the base shaking with succedent blasts. He brings his hand in front of his face and coughs, clearing his lungs and he plunges forward, trudging over piles of rubble in his search.

Troopers are endlessly expendable—but to lose Hux in such a random assault would be quite the loss. An _unacceptable_ one.

It’s easy to spot the general thanks to the blush of his hair, spared from burial in the rubble, though as Kylo draws closer he sees it’s greyed with dust, as is upper half of his body. Unfortunately, as Kylo kicks away the last piece of debris obstructing his path, he finds there’s a troubling reason he _can’t_ see the rest of Hux.

A large piece of the wall—twisted by and torn away from the blast—lies fallen over the general from the waist down, its crumpled edge barely missing his faintly moving chest. His arms splay out from his body, knocked from their usual position tucked behind his back. As if he’d tried, in a moment of foolish hope, to stop the wall from crushing him as it came down.

Hux’s eyes still hold a glimmer of his usual sharpness from beneath heavy lids, and he’s able to turn his head and look at Kylo as he kneels at the general’s side and takes stock of his injuries.

Hux’s temple bleeds from a shallow wound, muscles in his face occasionally spasming from the pain. The dust from the collapse powders his already pale face, the bags under his eyes hanging more like bruises than their usual reddened hue.

The general swallow and tilts his chin up at Kylo, looking like he wants to speak, but when he opens his mouth only pinkish froth drips down his lips.

“Don’t talk if you can help it,” Kylo says as he focuses on the pace of the general’s heart, moving past external signs to divulge the extent of his injuries with the Force.

Miraculously, Hux’s vitality remains stable, if diminished. He’s heavily injured, but Kylo reasons it would’ve been far worse had the wall collapsed atop his chest or head. He’s confident that if he gets the general out now, a medic and some bacta can heal Hux in no time.

“Here.” Kylo waves his hand at the largest slab of debris. “Remain still. I will remove this.”

Hux eyes widen up at him. He shakes his head and splutters something indistinct but Kylo ignores him and curls his fingers towards his palm, lifting the metal pinning the general easily. He moves to push it away only for a piercing scream to cut through his mind, shattering his focus. Kylo gasps and loses his grip on the slab, setting it crashing back down with a deafening _clang_.

Pure agony has crushed the expression of passive shock on Hux’s face, and he now writhes from beneath the wall. His neck spasms as he vomits tarry blood down onto his chest, before his skull cracks back against the ground. Kylo stares in alarm as Hux’s eyes roll up and go glassy, lids trembling and half-lidded. The color in his face wanes to a ghostly shade, as if someone has pulled a plug inside him and drained all the remaining blood out.

“I—general, _stop that_ —“ Kylo falters, petulantly grabbing one of Hux’s limp wrists as if it’d help to stop the sudden tremors racking through his body. “What’s happening?”

Hux doesn’t respond, and his wrist is wickedly cold even as his pulse hammers under Kylo’s palm. It’s weak and rapid, desperately trying to save the general from whatever had happened when Kylo had tried to lift the rubble off.

The knight’s heart bolts and he squeezes Hux’s arm.

 _Kriff_. This has just tipped from urgency into _crisis_.

“Hux.” Kylo leans over him, other hand hovering, unsure what to do with itself after causing so much harm already. “Can you hear me? Hang on.”

Hux doesn’t show any response, his lips opening only slightly to admit reedy breaths. Kylo tries to focus, to delve into the general’s mind to unearth what he can’t tell him himself, but all he encounters is a wall of panic and pain welling up from Hux’s middle, any clear thought dashed. It frazzles Kylo’s own nerves, leaving him shaky and unsure of what he can possibly _do_. Trying to lift the wall off of Hux’s has only made things worst, only narrowed the general’s chances of escaping this assault alive.

With no other recourse Kylo reaches out and snags onto the general’s fading life, knowing he hasn’t the focus and tranquility to keep it from slipping between his fingers but desperate enough to _try_ , to keep Hux linked to the living world for just a few more minutes. The sounds of the assault start to fade, though whether its due to a successful defense or just the pounding of his heart in his ears, Kylo doesn’t know.

He only snaps out of his fugue with the announcing calls of the emergency medics, turning his head over his shoulder towards the men clambering over the rubble towards them.

When they lay eyes on him the medics falter, as if unsure what the protocol is under Kylo’s presence and no doubt recalling his previous treatment of the Order’s personnel, but there’s little time for hesitation with the way Hux’s is slipping. Kylo stands up too quickly, posture rigid and fists clenched, robes thankfully hiding the trembling in his legs as he steps away.If the medics note anything about his stature or the fact that he’d been holding onto the general’s wrist, they wisely say nothing as they set about their business.

Following a hurried assessment the medics slip a breathing mask over the general’s face, disturbing the last of the perfected hairstyle that’s been clinging to life. He looks truly disheveled now and utterly unlike himself, pale as death and stained with blood and _fragile_.

It’s unsettling.

Kylo’s mind and hands freeze when the medics start to lift the rubble off of Hux, remembering how horribly it’d _hurt_ him when he tried. But men are swift and practiced, carefully pulling the general out from under it and loading him onto the stretcher. Blood glistens through the general’s uniform at the abdomen, the fabric tattered and stuck into the deep wound in his flesh. Kylo watches through the eyes of his helmet as one of the medics braces both hands against Hux’s middle, keeping pressure on the wound as they prepare him for departure.

Kylo’s never felt so useless.

While his first instinct is to follow after—ensure the medics don’t fail lest he crushes their skulls against the wall—Kylo first turns over the thick slab of debris with a shaky flick of the wrist, lips set tightly together when he reveals the other side.

And a glistening flake of shrapnel, shaved off from the wall, wet and spoiled with Hux’s blood.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on [Tumblr](http://thethespacecoyote.tumblr.com) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/heir_of_breath7/).


End file.
